re: Does Lock give Mizzou a shot in the East?

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rather than just enjoying the fact we won 17 out of 21 games has been kinda surreal.

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You misspelled stupid.....and I agree with you.

I don't want to totally disparage what Mauk has done, because as you say he's got a good record.

The guy in the Tribune said it best though. He's like a pitcher with a 5 ERA that won 15 games. Sure, he won them but the outcome of the games had a lot more to do with what went on around him than what he did.

Mauk can do some things with his legs. Extend plays, occasionally hit the deep ball.

However, he is simply incapable of playing efficient, consistent football. His accuracy is awful and he makes a few indefensible, bonehead decisions every game that usually lead to turnovers.

The best our offense has been with him at the helm is approaching average, and many times falls well short of even that.

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The backup QB is always the most popular guy on campus. But the degree to which some Mizzou fans have gone overboard with stat whining during the Mauk era rather than just enjoying the fact we won 17 out of 21 games has been kinda surreal.

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Have you watched Lock play this year? People were jizzing on themselves during the Summer. There's guys who thought he should start from day 1.

Anyone who has watched Lock play this season has seen what I have seen. A dude who can make all the passes and lead DRIVES.

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James Fraklin went into beast mode in the 2013 SEC Championship game and performed very well on our biggest stage yet.

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Not really. Go back and watch the game or, better still, read the Rant in-game thread of that 2013 SEC Champ game. You'll see repeated comments that "Franklin is KILLING Mizzou" and that he was all over the place throwing the ball and if he'd just settle down and throw accurately Mizzou would have been in much better shape. He did make a lot of good plays in that game, but it was a Maukesque up and down performance at best.

I could easily argue to you that last year, Mizzou's offensive line and overall offensive game plan is what got owned by Bama. Our only scores and major passing plays were off of Mauk improvisational scrambles where he used his legs and a creative pitch and catch play with Jimmy Hunt et al to make a play after Bama had COMPLETELY dismantled the actual Mizzou play call from the sidelines. Not many QBs out there can do the creative, spinning out of the pocket, Johnny Football-lite improvisation stuff that Mauk could, and it was the only thing that day that gave the Bama defense problems. When we ran our set plays, our whole team got owned. The running backs, healthy though they were, did JACK in that game too which is telling.

I guess that's the thing with the Mauk saga that I don't like. If people are going to say that his winning was a result of what the team around him did, then its unfair to pin losses like Georgia and Bama last year on his performance either without taking into account what the team around him did then either.

Bottom line, the kid's career at Mizzou is over now (there's no way he will suit up for us again) so I think given the very difficult time in his family life he is having right now, its better to just thank the kid for 17 very fun wins and a great SEC East championship season last year and let the debates on his stats and ability come to an end.

If Lock even gets the remainder of the starts this year, I still think lock can deliver respectability this year. Couple that with some teams that may lose some games they should have won (kind of like last year) and thinhs can happen, like 2014 season. If they don't that's fine. As long as the team can stay healthy as well as Lock.